


Deep in the Meadow

by EmmaLeeWrites



Series: Heathens [5]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: At least for a name, Dog - Freeform, Fake AH Crew, Gen, It's kind of sad just warning you, Origin Story, Pre-Fake AH Crew, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:22:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22072459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmmaLeeWrites/pseuds/EmmaLeeWrites
Summary: Scarlet gets a dog. Takes place before Complexity.
Relationships: Gavin Free & Geoff Ramsey, Gavin Free & Michael Jones
Series: Heathens [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1556107
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Deep in the Meadow

**Author's Note:**

> This is dedicated to my cat, Tiggy, who passed in 2017, and my dog, Piper, a toy poodle that my family unfortunately had to put down Monday.  
> Spoiler: The ending involves the death of a pet. I just want to say this so that anyone who has had to deal with that in their lives can be sufficiently prepared in whatever way they need to be, because I know from experience that losing a pet is incredibly difficult.

Two months after Michael joins their little gang of criminals, he and Scarlet come home with a puppy. It's tiny,  _ covered  _ in bandages, and barely alive. As Scarlet sets it gingerly on the couch, Michael explains.

"We found it on the side of the road. I think it got hit by a car."

Geoff frowns. "Where'd the bandages come from?"

"We brought him to the vet, obviously." Scarlet says. His eyes stay on the dog.

"Right. Vet did what she could, but..." Michael pauses. "She said only time will tell if he'll get better."

"And she let you take it home?" Jack asks, skeptical as always when the lads are involved.

"I'd rather he die surrounded by comfort than by sterilized tables and white walls." Scarlet says. "Besides, he could be fine. It's just that this is the time of reckoning."

_ I wonder what Burnie will say about a dog in his safehouse, _ Geoff wonders idly. He joins Scarlet on the couch. "What kind of dog is he?"

"Vet said he was a poodle." Michael says. "Aren't poodles bigger?"

""He's a  _ toy  _ poodle, Micool. Toys are small." Scarlet smiles. "I've named him Gavvy."

Geoff rolls his eyes, smiling despite himself at the lads' antics. "I'm not calling him that. How about Gavin?"

"Gavvy for short, though. He likes it." Scarlet pets Gavin gently on the top of his head. The puppy looks at him, and Geoff would be lying if he said he didn't see pure adoration in its eyes.

"Is he a puppy or is he just small?" Jack asks.

"Small. The vet said he was nine years or so, right, Micool?"

"Yeah, and he's probably a stray because he's malnourished as fuck, so we didn't steal anyone's dog."

"Speaking of," Geoff looks at Michael. "You two brought him home, he's your dog. Don't expect me to nanny him."

"You kidding me?" Michael snorts. "Scarlet's never letting him out of sight. You don't have to worry, Geoff."

* * *

Gavin gets better. He seems to have a permanent limp, but he jumps around and plays like a normal dog. And true to word, Scarlet takes the thing everywhere. An important meeting with Burnie about the future of the Roosters? Scarlet has the dog on his lap. Shopping? Gavin is content to poke his head out of Scarlet's backpack. Scarlet takes a shower? The dog waits outside the door for him.

It's cute, if not infuriatingly confusing. Scarlet's like a Goddamn Disney Princess with the dog trailing after him as the world's best-behaved pet. Geoff can barely get Scarlet and Michael to listen to him, but the dog is practically self-training.

He mentions it to Jack, and she laughs so hard she has to lay on the floor to catch her breath.

"I get what you mean, Geoff," She chuckles. "But you clearly haven't seen the Lads training Gavin."

"What do you mean?"

"Scarlet spends  _ hours  _ at the park teaching that dog all sorts of tricks. I'm pretty sure he and Michaek have taught the dog how to detect lies.” Jack shakes her head. “It’s well-behaved because they taught it to be.”

Geoff blinks. “Guess I haven’t seen any of that.”

“Well, it’s not like you aren’t busy.” Jack pats him on the back. “Maybe it’s time to reinvent yourself, figure out if you’re doing what you want to be. The dog has been a life changer for Scarlet, maybe it can do the same for you?”

* * *

The Fake AH Crew officially begins a year after Michael shows up. It consists of Geoff, Jack, Michael, Scarlet, and Gavin the toy poodle. Scarlet insists he be an official member, talking for an hour straight about what he’s taught the dog and how it can be helpful, and Geoff finally relents, if only to keep his ear from falling off.

Michael comes up to him later and thanks him for letting Gavin be a technical part of the crew. “That dog means everything to him, Geoff. I don’t really get why, but Boi’s weird sometimes, so.” Michael shrugs. “Don’t actually make Gavin do crew stuff, though, because if anything happens to him Scarlet will be crushed, and I’ll be required to kill you in revenge.”

Geoff laughs, somewhat nervously as he can’t tell if Michael’s being serious about that last part. “Calm down, Michael. The only thing separating those two is old age.”

* * *

Geoff has to carry Scarlet to bed one night, the lad having fallen asleep on the couch, and he realizes, returning to the living room, that Gavin hasn’t followed. The dog lays curled up on the couch right where he’s been all night and barely raises his head to look at him.

“Everything alright, bud?” Geoff asks, patting Gavin’s head before picking him up. “Guess you’re pretty tired, too, huh?”

Geoff sets Gavin by Scarlet’s head, pets the dog again, and leaves the two to rest.

* * *

“No, the vet said Gavvy didn’t have fleas, Geoffrey.” Scarlet says. Gavin pokes his head out from Scarlet’s backpack.

“Why’s he itching so much, then?” Geoff asks.

Scarlet shrugs. “The vet’s working on it. She says it’s probably an allergy. I’m gonna change his food, though. Probably get some wet food. Or a steak- that’ll last him a week, a big one.”

Geoff smiles. “Well, at least it isn’t fleas. I don’t need to go cleaning the entire safehouse just because a six pound dog got fleas.”

Scarlet laughs. “Gavvy’s probably just got dog psoriasis. You know, like Michael.”

“Michael’s got dog psoriasis?”

Scarlet hits him. “You know what I mean!”

* * *

“No, Gavvy, over here- oh, no!” Scarlet’s voice echoes into the kitchen.

A few minutes later Scarlet walks in, holding Gavin. “I think Gavvy’s going blind.”

“Why’s that?” Michael asks, shoving another piece of bacon in his mouth.

Scarlet pats Gavin on the head. “He keeps walking into things. Sometimes I call to him and he goes the other way, too.”

“Deaf and blind?” Geoff asks. “All of the sudden? He’s probably just sick. A fever and shit can make someone weird in the head.”

“Like the time you sneezed so hard you slammed your head into the table and then fell over backwards?” Michael says. He smirks.

Geoff glares at him. “We agreed never to talk about that.” He looks back at Scarlet. “I’m sure Gavin is fine, Scarlet. Even if he is going blind, or deaf, or both, it’s not the end of the world. People are  _ born  _ that way.”

Scarlet looks at him. “You really think so?”

He hugs Scarlet, mindful of Gavin between them. “Of course.”

* * *

Geoff comes home to Gavin getting a bath in the kitchen sink, courtesy of a soaked Scarlet and bored- looking Michael.

“...Why is the dog in the sink?”

Scarlet continues to scrub bubbles into Gavin’s sodden coat. “Gavvy smelled, but the bathtub’s too big, so I’m using the sink.”

“You put the  _ dog  _ in the  _ sink _ , where we  _ wash dishes. _ ”

Michael smirks. “Hey, in Scarlet’s defense, a lot of people give their babies baths in the sink.”

Geoff looks at Gavin again. The dog stares blankly at him, lifting his paw as Scarlet scrubs his belly- and Geoff spots a patch of bare skin, raw and red.

“What happened there?” He asks.

“Oh, Gavvy was biting himself. I think his skin’s bothering him again.” Scarlet turns the faucet on. “I’m gonna talk to the vet again.”

* * *

Scarlet’s scrubbing Gavin in the sink again.

“Is this going to become commonplace?” Geoff asks.

Scarlet gives him a tired look. “No, but Gavvy peed the bed so I have to wash him.”

“The dog peed the bed? With you in it?”

A nod. Yeah. I already put the blankets in the wash. And washed myself. I dunno what I’ll do about the mattress though.”

“I’ll see if Jack knows what to do about that.”

“Please.”

* * *

“Isn’t this how we met?” Geoff asks, thinking about shattered windshields and bullet holes.

Scarlet laughs. “Yeah! My friends tried to kill us. You were on a stakeout?”

“I didn’t tell you?”

“I never asked.” Scarlet picks at his skirt. “I was a  _ mess _ . Really, Geoffrey. I only had one outfit, I didn’t eat anything that wasn’t fast food.  _ And  _ if you hadn’t been there… I’d definitely be dead.”

“Guess I’m good at picking up strays.”

Scarlet smiles, briefly, before frowning. His face darkens. “I…” He looks out the window. “Nevermind.”

“Hey, no, you can talk to me, bud. What’s wrong?” Geoff puts a hand on Scarlet’s shoulder.

“I’m worried about Gavvy.” Scarlet mumbles. He turns back to Geoff. “He’s sick, you’ve seen him, and I don’t know how to make him better. He doesn’t follow me around anymore, I had to put that cone on him because he kept chewing himself so much he  _ bled- _ ” Scarlet pauses, tears forming. “He keeps peeing in his dog beds, he won’t even get up afterwards, and he always smells so bad.”

Geoff sighs. If there’s one reason he doesn’t have pets, it’s this. “Scarlet… it’s natural to be worried. What does the vet say?”

Scarlet sniffs. “I can pay a lot of money for medications. It’s all… it’s all cronic. There’s not really  _ cures _ . I just… if it was one thing…”

“But it’s not.” Geoff confirms.

“Is he suffering?” Scarlet asks. He sounds like a lost child, scared and helpless and  _ alone _ . It makes Geoff’s heart ache.

“That’s up to you to figure out, bud.” Geoff says. “And once you have, what to do with that information. That dog loves you. You would do anything for him, and he  _ knows  _ that. Whatever ends up happening, he’s going to be happy because  _ you’re  _ taking care of him,  _ you’re  _ there for him.”

Scarlet smiles and bursts into tears, and Geoff decides that the stakeout can be postponed for a while.

* * *

Jack makes the appointment, rejoining them in the living room after with the words “Monday at 3:20”. Scarlet dissolves into tears again, almost hysterical as Geoff holds it together for the both of them. Michael is emotionless in the chair, looking at his hands with a frown on his face.

The rest of the week is mostly the same, with Scarlet a mess every time he thinks about his dog (which is often). Geoff comforts him and then cries in private, far more emotional about Scarlet than Gavin, but really, isn’t that the point of empathy? Jack’s eyes are permanently red, but he never catches her crying. Michael- Michael seems to be doing his damnedest to keep Scarlet’s mind off the inevitable.

* * *

The vet sedates Gavin first, letting Scarlet hold him the entire time. Despite his sobbing, his arms are steady, and Gavin doesn’t even yip as the needle enters his skin. Jack wipes her eyes with a handkerchief. She hadn’t even wanted to stay for this part, let alone the next, but- she’d also felt bad about leaving.

Gavin falls asleep quickly, going limp in Scarlet’s arms and breathing more steadily than he has in a while. Geoff feels his chest ache as Scarlet holds him closer, shoving his face into matted fur. Jack coaxes him to lay Gavin down on the table, on the blanket, and leads him out of the room.

Geoff and Michael stay. Gavin is essentially gone at this point- only sleeping, yes, but unless they change their minds right now the next step will ensure that Gavin never wakes up. Michael sniffs, wiping his eyes. He’s more stoic than Geoff and Jack, but it’s not hard to remember that Gavin was sort of his dog, too.

They stay until Gavin stops breathing. Geoff gives him one last pat on the head, and then they join Scarlet and Jack in the waiting room.

* * *

Geoff picks up the dog’s ashes three days later, complete with a clay tablet with his pawprint set into it and a letter of condolences from the vet.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been playing with the idea of how our lovely Golden Boy went from 'Scarlet' to 'Gavin', and I was tempted to leave it ambiguous, but I felt that a name change (in the context of the Heathens verse, at least) had to be important, and BIG, and that if it was, I should write it. I also knew I wanted to upload a short to accompany the most recent chapter of Complexity (💧︎⧫︎◆︎♍︎🙵) because it's so short. I felt that whatever I uploaded should also be important. So I sat down to write Monday night, hoping I could come up with something... and I guess I did, writing through a bit of my grief as well.  
> If you didn't read the note at the beginning, I recently had to put down my dog Piper. We had her for almost 11 years, and while she didn't get sick quite as quickly as I wrote Gavvy doing, all the same signs and symptoms were there. Toy Poodles typically have arthritis in the hip, leading to limping and chronic pain, and Piper was also allergic to a lot of things like fleas and grass. Near the end it caused her to tear at her skin until she was bleeding, often profusely. She had a permanent cone around her neck. Those were among other problems, ones that I wrote Gavvy going through. The scene at the vets is pretty close to what happened with Piper as well, with each of the Fakes mirroring members of my family. While I primarily wrote Geoff during that scene with myself in mind during Piper's passing, Scarlet was very much myself during Tiggy's.  
> (If you've read this far) I'd like to say that if you've lost a loved one, pet or otherwise- it's never easy. Sometimes the biggest obstacle to deal with is wondering if you made the right choice, if there was another option. But you DID make the right choice. You cared for them. You did what you thought was best, and in the end, you just wanted to help them. That's all anyone can ask for.


End file.
